Aussie Documentary Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story Gets US Distribution

By Travis Johnson

December 13, 2017

Take a shot in the dark at what this one might be about.

Content warning – animal slaughter.

Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story, the new documentary by Kate McIntyre Clere (Yogawoman) and Mick McIntyre (Aussie Rules the World) has been picked up by Abramorama for North American distribution. The film will premiere in the US on January 19, 2018, ahead of its Australian release on March 15.

The film delves into our complicated relationship with that most recognisable of Australian animals, the kangaroo. The noble roo is at once both icon and pest, sacred symbol and pet food, a resource to be harvested and a species to be protected.

As the official synopsis tells us, “Set in distinctive Australian landscapes, Kangaroo explores the complex and conflicting opinions around this unique marsupial at the centre of the largest mass destruction of wildlife in the world. With breathtaking footage of kangaroos in the wild, the film provides audiences with an up-close experience of this incredible species and ignites a conversation that Australians seem reluctant to have; the future of the largest remaining marsupial species left on the planet.”

As the filmmakers themselves say, “To make Kangaroo, we worked hard to tell all sides of the story and traveled thousands of kilometres across the magnificent Australian outback, speaking with Indigenous Australians, scientists, meat processors, commercial shooters, farmers, politicians, artists, wildlife carers, chefs and activists, to explore the wonder of this magnificent and unique animal and to weave together an unsettling story for the world to see.”

Seems like it’s going to spark no small amount of debate – we’ll see which side we land on when the film hits in 2018.

Comments

This is an activist film, no doubt, but my greatest objection to it is that it demonises the humane killing of kangaroos while largely ignoring the damage that kangaroos do to farms, the environment and to people via vehicle-kangaroo collisions which frequently result in death or serious injuries to vehicle drivers and passengers. And I wonder why the filmmakers have not produced a movie on sheep or cattle or pigs being taken to abattoirs, killed and cut up?